Welcome to the GW Historic Walking Tour! This tour takes you to some of the most noteworthy buildings on GW’s campus, places where the traditions and rich legacy of GW have taken shape. You’ll learn which buildings played host to a children’s orphanage and a historic desegregation dispute, and will meet characters in GW’s history ranging from a world renowned physicist to a social club hostess.

Today’s neighborhood was first established as the village of Hamburgh in 1763 by German immigrant Jacob Funk, almost 30 years before the creation of , D.C. in 1791. During the 19th century, the neighborhood was home to many industrial shops and factories as well as small brick row houses for workers that still stand in the western portion of the neighborhood.

Foggy Bottom has been the site of The University’s main campus since 1912. In that year, the University purchased its first building in the neighborhood at 2023 G St. In 1924, GW built its first academic building, and in 1937 completed construction of its first dormitory.

During the World War II era, Foggy Bottom transitioned from an industrial backwater to a fashionable neighborhood with a strong business and academic center. The State Department building at 23rd and D Streets, completed in 1943, was critical to this transition, as was the continual growth of GW. By the 1950s Foggy Bottom was an upscale neighborhood with few remaining signs of its industrial, working class past.

Today the architectural landscape of Foggy Bottom is characterized by 19th century row houses and former alley dwellings; larger academic, commercial, and residential buildings from the 20th century; and a proliferation of exciting new development from the late 20th and 21st centuries. This tour was created by the GW Libraries Special Collections Research Center. All images are from the Special Collections Research Center, unless otherwise indicated.

Walking Tour

Begin at the corner of H and 23rd Streets, NW.

1. (2223 H Street)

This eight‐story residence hall was formerly the Everglades Apartments. The university purchased the building in 1947 to house nurses on the staff of the George Washington University Hospital. It was renamed the Everglades Apartments for Nurses. In 1982, the building became Everglades Hall, a co‐ed dormitory, before being renamed in honor of Senator J. William Fulbright on May 6, 1996.

Fulbright earned his LL.B. degree from GW in 1934. His congressional resolution in 1945 signaled that body's willingness to have the United States join the world peace organization that came to be known as the United Nations Organization. Fulbright is, of course, best remembered in academia for initiating the program of international student exchanges, which bears his name. Fulbright fellowships are still highly prized, and GW students have won their share of them.

(Photograph of Fulbright Hall in 1947, from the University Historical Material records)

Walk east on H St. toward 21st St. Turn right onto 21st St.

2. (730 21st Street)

Lisner Auditorium was named for the donor Abram Lisner, a merchant, philanthropist, and University Trustee (1909‐17, 1919‐ 1938). The cornerstone was laid in 1941 and construction completed in 1943. In 1946, Lisner was the epicenter for a major fight for desegregation in Washington. A play starring Ingrid Bergman was set to open at Lisner, but when Bergman heard the audience would be segregated, she told local newspapers of her opposition and the cast signed a petition denouncing the policy. The storm of controversy continued until 1947, when GW’s Board of Trustees decided to officially end its segregation policy and admit African‐Americans as patrons to Lisner.

For many years Lisner hosted GW’s commencement exercises, and in the days before the Kennedy Center it was the major focus of Washington's theater scene. Since the 1940s, Lisner has hosted world famous musicians, singers, dancers, and entertainers. The diverse list of performers includes the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, David Byrne, Chick Corea, Jay Leno, Miriam Makeba, Bonnie Raitt, Pete Seeger, Andres Segovia, Jon Stewart, and Matthew Sweet.

(Photograph of Lisner Hall in 1946, from the University Historical Material records)

Cross to the other side of 21st St. at the crosswalk. Walk south on 21st St. toward G St.

3. (725 21st Street)

Corcoran Hall was dedicated October 28, 1924, and named for William Wilson Corcoran, President of the Trustees and benefactor of the University. It was the first building constructed for GW on its Foggy Bottom campus. Built by Wardman Construction Company, Corcoran Hall was constructed as a classroom building. From 1934‐1956, renowned nuclear physicist George Gamow taught and conducted research in Corcoran Hall. He was a key participant in the Washington Conferences on Theoretical Physics in the 1930s and 1940s, which placed GW at the center of the world's most advanced research in the field.

Thanks to a government contract designed to develop new technologies during World War II, the basement of Corcoran Hall was the birthplace of the bazooka. The program was so successful that its budget grew from nine million dollars annually at the beginning of the war to a budget of one hundred million dollars a month in 1945.

Today, the department continues to host scientists performing cutting edge research and scholarship. The Departments of Chemistry and Physics call Corcoran Hall home.

(Photograph of Corcoran Hall in 1959, from the University Historical Material records)

Continue walking south on 21st St. toward G St. Cross over G St. at the intersection. Using the crosswalk, cross to the west side of 21st St.

4. Strong Hall (620 21st Street)

The Hattie M. Strong Residence Hall for Women was constructed by the Charles H. Tompkins Company to meet the growing demand for residential housing at the University. It was the first dorm built on campus. Until the end of World War II, there was no campus housing for men. Mrs. Henry Alvah Strong gave the University $200,000 for a women's dormitory in December of 1934, and Strong Hall was dedicated on May 7, 1937. Mrs. Strong was a Washington resident and later a Trustee for the University. Her donation helped realize the vision of then President Marvin for a residential campus. Strong Hall has remained women‐only housing since its inception.

(Photograph of Strong Hall in 1938, from the Office of University Relations records)

Cross back over to the east side of 21st St., using the crosswalk.

5. Tonic (Quigley's Pharmacy) (2036 G Street)

Quigley's Pharmacy is a notable landmark in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, situated at the corner of 21st and G Street. Though the pharmacy has since closed, the popular restaurant Tonic now occupies the building. The restaurant displays the original Quigley's Pharmacy sign above the entrance to honor their predecessor.

History in the making is not uncommon at GW, and for decades Quigley’s was the place to observe it. In a 1970 issue of GW Magazine, former owner Al Kohrn spoke about Quigley’s role during the Watergate scandal. "We never had any problems with vandalism," Kohrn said. "In fact, when we had trouble down at Watergate, and the police pushed the people back on campus … we stayed open while they were being tear‐ gassed and got as many kids in here as we could."

(Photograph of Quigley’s in 1912, from the University Historical Material records)

Cross to the opposite (north) side of G St., using the crosswalk.

6. Woodhull House (2033 G Street)

Built by Maxwell Woodhull in 1855, 2033 G Street was donated to the University in 1921 by his son General Maxwell Van Zandt Woodhull, a University trustee and benefactor. Woodhull had been instrumental in the University's decision to move its campus to G Street, and his bequest of the house commemorates the relocation of George Washington University from downtown Washington to Foggy Bottom.

The building currently serves as the headquarters for the University Police. In 2011, GW announced that Albert H. Small donated his extensive private collection of Washingtoniana to the university. In addition, the university announced a partnership with the Textile Museum. The George Washington University Museum, which will house the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection, the Center for National Capital Area Studies, and the Textile Museum, is scheduled for completion in 2014. The museum will include Woodhull House and a newly constructed annex.

(Photograph of Woodhull House in 1912, from the University Historical Material records)

Walk east on G St. toward 20th St. Turn right onto 20th St. Cross to the east side of 20th St. at the intersection of 20th and F. Walk south on 20th St. toward F St. Turn left on F St.

7. (1925 F Street)

Formerly the F Street Club (and also known as the Steedman‐Ray House), its guests have included Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. Several accounts link the early history of the house to Alexander Ray, owner of Ray Mill in Georgetown and one of the largest Georgetown waterfront landholders. Ray purchased the house in 1868, and remodeled it. The house remained in the family until the early decades of the 20th century.

The F Street Club was founded in 1933 by Laura Merriam Curtis Gross, who lived in the house briefly. After financial difficulties from the Depression she planned to sell it, but friends persuaded her to open it to paying guests for meals and parties. She did and for nine years it was known as the Curtis Club. Mrs. Curtis later married John Gross, a Bethlehem Steel official, and the club was sold to Club Inc. and took on the name “F Street Club.” The house was sold in 1974 to GW University by , which had first rented it as a private home in 1923. In 1976 it was first meant to be razed to make room for a World Bank office building, and later plans were to move it to a vacant lot on the west side of 21st Street, south of Strong Hall, but in the end, the building remained where it was. The F Street Club closed for good in 1999, and was rededicated as the Alumni House the same year. In 2007 the Alumni House moved to 1918 F St. and the house became the official residence of the President of The George Washington University. Today, the house serves as both the home of Steven and Diane Knapp and as a centerpiece of the university community.

(Photograph of the F Street House in 1912, image courtesy of GW Office of Planning and Campus Development)

Cross to the opposite (south) side of F St. at the crosswalk.

8. Old Main (1922 F Street)

This building was formerly owned by the National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU) as their headquarters from 1959‐2000. It previously served as St. John's Orphanage, the principal charity of St. John's Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square, opposite The . Originally the orphanage was founded as St. John's Hospital for Children in a house on Pennsylvania Ave. on November 1, 1870. In December 1873, it moved to 1908 H Street NW (the site of the IMF and formerly that of Western Presbyterian Church). As a result of the depression in the 1870s, funds ran out, but one Sister Sarah salvaged the institution (relying on her own resources) by moving the forty‐three orphaned children into a vacant house on this site (20th and F Streets, NW) in 1878. After the house was destroyed by fire in 1914, a fire proof building was erected for the orphanage. There no longer being a need to shelter orphans, it closed after 1956, and was sold to the NALU on March 31, 1959 for $515,500.

(Photograph of Old Main, undated, from the Foggy Bottom Collection)

Using the crosswalk at the intersection, cross back over to the west side of 20th St. Walk north on 20th St. toward H St. (crossing G St.).

9. (720 20th Street)

Stockton Hall was dedicated on November 14, 1925 and named for Rear Admiral Charles Herbert Stockton, University President (1910‐1918). Stockton Hall was designed in 1924 by Albert L. Harris and Arthur Heaton to serve as the University's Law School. It was the second building erected by the university on the Foggy Bottom campus (following Corcoran Hall, which was built in 1924). Designed to house the Law School in total when it was built, Stockton Hall is now one of four buildings that adjoin to form the Law School complex occupying the block on 20th Street between G and H Streets, across from the World Bank and just four blocks from the White House.

As a contribution to the war effort, GW maintained the third floor of Stockton Hall during 1941 for use by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps in testing fabrics for tropical use.

(Photograph of Stockton Hall in 1925, image courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Continue walking north on 20th St. toward I St. (crossing H St.). Turn left onto Eye St. at the corner o f 20th St. (where 20th intersects with Pennsylvania Ave. and Eye. St.). Walk west on Eye St. toward 21st St.

10. 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. (Red Lion Row) (2000 block of Eye Street)

The row of 19th century townhouses on the 2000 block of Eye Street is known as "Red Lion Row" in reference to the Red Lion pub on the block. The triangular park that faces the block was once the site of the city's Western Market, established there in 1803. Many of the block's inhabitants at that time were merchants and kept small shops in their homes.

At the time of GW's 1982 renovation of the row, most of the buildings were in poor condition, and a number stood vacant. The university worked with local preservation groups to find a plan for revitalizing the block that would preserve its historic character, provide new retail options for the neighborhood, and meet the needs of a growing university. The historic buildings were joined together and some of their original materials retained during the construction of the shops and the attendant eight story office building that rises from the rear. The facades display materials, forms, and details characteristic of late 19th century residential and commercial architecture.

(Photograph of Red Lion Row in 1977, image courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places)